• Introduction

• A Test of Trust

• What's "Combat Training?"

• Unintentional Trust-busting

• 5/2005 - Eckert, CO
  
  
• 6/2005 - Kea'au, HI
  

• Hawaii Isle Dressage & Combined Training

Think of a typical schoolroom. The teacher explains the material, and then the students ask questions and listen for the teacher’s answers. The teacher asks questions also, to check the students’ comprehension, and provides feedback: “Good, that’s right.” “Yes, that’s partly correct…” “No, not quite. Let’s look at this a different way…”

But what would happen if the teacher never said “yes” to the students?  What if the teacher corrected the wrong answers but simply ignored the right responses? How long would the students want to listen, and how much learning would take place?

Face it: If you own, train or ride a horse, you are a teacher, whether or not you intended to be one. This is a constant learning experience for both of you, and you are your horse’s primary partner in learning.

For four decades, I’ve watched, learned from, coached, and worked with a wide variety of horses, riders, and other trainers – not just to win in shows or make a profit, but to find the satisfaction that comes from helping the horse and the human make the connection of trust and understanding.   My goal is to help people and horses learn how to reach a level of successful teamwork that creates a sense of pure delight. 

I also spent fifteen years working in corporate management and marketing, where I discovered how important it is not only to provide confident leadership but also to understand underlying motivations to create a successful team. I also learned how a skilled communicator can turn every roadblock into an opportunity for success.  So what does this have to do with horse training? The horse’s natural instincts set the stage for effective teamwork, but we humans must understand his motivation and create a language based on requests, responses and rewards—all delivered in the horse’s own language. We need to understand how horses interact within the equine herd, and then step into their world.  Translating needs and expectations from human language to horse language—and back again—becomes easier when you understand the native culture.

This book doesn’t cover every step in the process of training a green horse from the ground up; instead, it focuses on communication skills and methods that trainers and riders need to master in order to facilitate successful, lifelong relationships with their horses. I don’t cover halter-training, ground-driving or ponying the young horse, for instance; but I do explain the importance of ground exercises and work on the longe, because these involve skills and methods of communication that will benefit all horses and riders at almost all ages and nearly every stage of training.

Some people will call this a book about natural horsemanship, and others might say it looks suspiciously like a dressage book, although I’ve tried not to use either term too often. But natural horsemanship and dressage are essentially different branches on the same tree, so this book incorporates many principles and exercises from both. The goal, after all, is to create a trusting, willing, enjoyable team relationship with our horses, no matter what style we ride or what our individual goals might be. I hope it will find a wide audience with all riders and horse owners.